Soda Springs Diversion Papakai, North Island, New Zealand
By XenaCommander & TechnoKitten on 26-Dec-09. Waypoint GC229GE

I am regretfully archiving this cache since there's been no response from nor action by the cache owner within the time frame requested in a prior reviewer note.

Hi XenaCommander

This geocache was brought to my attention as being in need of an owner maintenance visit and after my previous reviewer note, there has been no owner response. The cache owner needs to check on this cache ASAP and either replace it or archive it, after picking up any geo-litter. See the [maintenance section of the Geocache Listing Requirements/Guidelines](http://www.geocaching.com/about/guidelines.aspx#listingmaintenance).

I've added this cache to my watchlist, and I will check back in four weeks to be sure that the maintenance has been done. In the meantime, I have temporarily disabled this listing. When the maintenance is completed, the owner can enable the listing by clicking on the link below the cache name to return it to active status.

Whatever your intentions, please **post a note** here on the cache page (not email) to let us know that you are still active and maintaining the cache. If a month passes without seeing a response, then I'll assume that this listing should be archived.

Please note, that if a cache is archived due to lack of owner maintenance, the cache is unable to be unarchived.

Regards
TheCoddiwompler

I also tried when I was here and nothing

I didn't find it either.

Alors là c'est Nada !

We struck out on this one. Oh well. Hope it is still there.

Four sets of eyes looking but DNF

This is the 3rd time this trip a cache with a D/T rating I'm chasing for a few challenge caches has been a DNF...
I have a keen eye for 2/4's so was eager to find this one. Spent a good while looking with no muggles around but was unable to locate the cache.
Enjoyed the springs however! Thanks

General:
Traveling through the North Island with the family. No option to walk the crossing with the kids. But my wife was generous enough to let me go alone today, thank you! What a great hike it was! The weather was cloudy but still plenty of good views, guarded from too much sun and just a little breeze, lovely hiking conditions. And then to top it off some nice geocaching to be done along the way, making it a perfect day

Specific:
Started by searching under the one big obvious ledge, no luck there. Expanded the search area under anything ledgy but after 10 mins still nothing. Decided to move on, still a long day ahead.

Found this today at the start of day 2 of our northern circuit tramp. Plenty of people on the track but far enough away from the action so that we could easily be discreet

TFTC. Very nice waterfall.

Unfortunately we lost our pen on the way to the springs. So hopefully this picture is proof enough. Tftc!

TFTC

Nice little stop near the water before entering the devils staircase ! TFTC

What a great day at the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, it started with a cloudy morning and some wind but finished with full sun ! We enjoyed a couple of caches on the way !
We had to be discreet for this one as a lot of people were around to take pictures of the falls !
Thanks for the cache and greetings from the French !

Quick and easy find. Beautiful views. Tftc

Well worth the diversion to enjoy this peaceful spot.

Not so busy on the trail today, maybe two dozen people we’ve come across so far. No one out here.

Found the container easily, it’s in good condition and right where it should be.

Thanks!

Decided to split up from my group and go get another smiley. Another one ticked off. awesome spot, now to catch up with the rest of the group

Found with victoriousone, madcow2 and kimmy+co on our way around the northern circuit - tftc

Off on the northern circuit with friends including mumandme, victoriousone and Kimmy+me

Tftc, out doing the circuit with mumandme, madcow2, victoriousone

Found with Madcow2, Mumandme and Kimmy+co. Just starting the Tongariro Northern Circuit. Amazing trip and views so far. TFTC

Overthought it for a while but got there in the end. Day 2 of the Tongariro northern circuit. Tftc.

#964 finally quiet enough to get this cache, and searching without arousing suspicion. Easy found soon after. TFTC

Nice spot. Saw some other walkers trying to climb up the falls. Dangerous! TFTC

Despite our best efforts we couldn’t find today with OMCNZ

In the North Island with a school trip, got a bit of down time so time for a bit of caching.

Walking the Tongariro Crossing to the mid point, up Tongariro itself and then back to the carpark - Great weather and views.

A quick detour whilst running the track

TFTC

Day 2 dawned and I was up and out on the trail not as early as some of the other trampers but before most of the day walkers.

A brief diversion here and not before time. Ten minutes later and I’d not have been able to search uninterrupted.

Thanks XenaCommander
#3738

Logged using Cachly.

Thanks XenaCommander & TechnoKitten for this scenic cache location

Nice walk under the clouds today!!

All nice and dry but log full... Added a new temporary log sheet

Nice little diversion. Glad it was at the beginning or my legs may not have handled it!

Nice spot for a classic hide

Trying to keep ahead of the noisy talking walkers so took this diversion. Nice find 9:45am after starting 8:30am. Loving this walk already.

A diversion we had never done despite multiple visits to the crossing pre geocaching years. Thanks for diverting us.

There is no truth in the rumour that the diversion meant missing our shuttle at the other end of the crossing. Bkj97 said soda springs had been on his list of diversions in the area since pre geocaching days. Chilly morning no whisky evident to go with the soda. Thanks for setting up the cache.

Found whilst out with Team SEAC. Thanks for the cache

Team SEAC had decided a few months ago to attempt the Tongariro Crossing. Not JUST because there were caches here but to get us all out and about.

We all trained doing various longer and longer (read more and more caches) walks building up to this day.

There had been much discussion if we would all do this little divert to grab this cache. On the day there was NEVER ever any question.... come ALL this WAY and leave one green dot NO WAY!

Great little side escapade and worth converting into a smiley.

Log signed as Team SEAC to save paper.

TFTC

Team SEAC is hiking the Tongariro Crossing today. When we got here the non-caches in the group watched our packs as the cachers took the diversion to find a soda. TFTC.

After months of planning and training walks the day finally arrived! A group of 14 from the Team SEAC crew turned up to knock this walk off. We had the perfect weather for it, lockdown had lifted in time and we were ok to travel so we were excited to see what was in store.

It was harder than I had anticipated so it took a little longer than we expected it would do but the main point is WE DID IT!!

Short little detour with quite a bit of muddy / boggy terrain to get through which also had this blue oily hue to it - wonder what that is? Anyway well worth it to check the little fall out and of course the cache.

Thanks for the cache.

In town with my good friends from Team Seac to do the Tongariro Crossing. For most of us this was the first time doing the crossing. Really enjoyed the walk and want to do it again. Sorry for generic logs. Log was signed "Team Seac" or "Seac" to save room on the logs.

Today was the day a team of caches from Auckland were here to conquer the mountain trail known as Tongariro crossing.

Many training tramps and adventures had been done and dusted in order to gain the required fitness and test gear needed to make the trip enjoyable.....and enjoyable it was....amazing scenery, a great group of people, and perfect weather......

Arrived by shuttle, took photo's, then off we trudged.....

detoured off the trail a little to make this find....

TFTC.

Members of Team SEAC had been doing various walks with the goal of doing the Tongariro Crossing. Mr. HeMaLuDy and Purply travelled down to National Park to join the other 12 members of our group, some who are muggles but all are aware of our caching habit. Today was the day. The short diversion to this location was well worth in. A very nice spot. A nice quick find with a few muggles around. Today was a day filled with amazing sights and great experiences. Unfortunately Mrs. HeMaLuDy and Darthcacher1 were unable to attempt the walk today. They intend to make the crossing at a later date. Log signed Team SEAC to save space. TFTC.

I thought this may be a difficult one, so I saved some photos from past finds just in case we got stuck. Seemed everyone who started the trek when we did wanted to come to this spot, but it was RG1972 who spotted the cache first. Signed and we are on our way. Attaching some photos of how the falls look today.

Day 5 of a trip around the bottom half of the North Island, and today it’s the Tongariro Crossing. We left early and got dropped off at the start by 6.30am. Got underway on a day that turned out to be a stunner. Sun all day, little wind, comfortable 15 degrees or so at the top. We took some great photos and enjoyed some stunning scenery. Found all traditional caches along the route as well. Picked up at 2.30pm at the other end, then back to our digs in Owhango, where we found a small handful of others, just for the hang of it.

Located with Ricardinho
TFTC

Hiking the Tongariro Crossing went for some caches

Nice to find, after a wee while of no logs, in the summer of less muggles! Prob needs new paper soon, sorry didn't bring full kit on diversion.

First find today on our crossing. Great day to do it. SL TFTC

Made the quick diversion to take a gander at the waterfall. Had a snack and had a search but to no avail. Just another reason to return

Bummed to miss this one. Nice waterfall though... Still a stunner of a day too

Zusammen mit Panne Koppa und Mini_JayJay heute morgen früh aufgestanden um den berühmten Tongariro Crossing zu machen. Eine richtig tolle Wanderung und natürlich haben wir ein paar extra Meter auf uns genommen um diesen Wasserfall zu sehen und den cache zu machen.

T4TC
#19345

En randonnée sur le Tongario, on fera toutes les caches sur notre passage !
Je suis étonné de la qualité et du bon entretien de l'ensemble !
Merci pour l'entretien et la pose de la cache.

At our Tongariro Crossing I could also find some caches along the way. This was one of them. The most where in good conditions. TFTC

Found as part of a group and now continue on my own. TFTC

Not as up as we imagined and with the GPS telling us the wrong side of a rock. We searched for 15 minutes with mugglers close by and when they moved we began to search near where they stood and found immediately. Thanks for the cache!

Returning to NZ after 8 years collecting caches new and missed.

Ventured to the other side of the mountains today to get a close up of Mt Ngauruhoe. What a view!! With springs thrown in, an extra bonus.

TFTC

Today I have done the Tongario Alpine Crossing! It was a great adventure on my trip and I am so happy, that I did it. The weather was perfect and lots of people were on the track. I met some friendly people and I saw awesome landscape. which I will never forget my whole life! Thanks for the caches on the trail! I learned a lot about landscape and geology!
luckyfour from Switzerland

We sat down right next to it and then proceed s to look everywhere else first

Found with Mrsc doing the Alpine crossing. Quick find, great location. tftc.

Found with mr c on our travels from the UK thank you.

Really enjoying the Tongariro Crossing walk and made the short detour to grab this one. Met another cacher here and had a chat.

T4TC

#654. Found at 8:20am. Mr and Mrs Northwood had been planning to tackle the Tongariro Crossing for a couple of summers. Several of the junior Northwoods have done it before, more than once. Finally, we were able to fit it in when the weather was looking very settled.

Of course, this first stretch is pretty easy going. We took the diversion to Soda Sprints - not many people did - and squelched our way over. Someone else seemed to be hunting too, we made a quick find together. Bumped into him again later.

So far so good, 2 for 2. All in order. TFTH

Yeah ! Found it !

TFTC

Hier war es für uns leichter. Nur ganz wenige Leute dieser großen Herde nehmen sich für diesen Wasserfall Zeit. Konnten in Ruhe suchen und finden. Die Koords waren etwas ungenau. Danke fürs Herführen. Dfdc

Even though Tongariro Crossing is long enough as it is, we decided to take the small detour to the Soda Springs and this cache. Took quite a bit of searching to find this one. Luckily most muggles did not bother to take the detour from the main track and so I couls search without muggles watching.

Thanks for the cache!

Lovely day to do the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. Took a small break at the Soda Springs and found the geocache as well. TFTC and a happy New Year!

Found it with PeabutButterBaby on last day of the year 2019. We did Tongariro Alpine Crossing in beautiful weather condition. Took a while here at GZ but no problems. TFTC

Found on a very windy day on the TAC. Alle 3 girls did the crossing. I returned to get back to the cache-mobil to pick them up and do caches on the way.
Took some time to find.
TFTC Staniska

Very nice spot

Nice diversion. enjoyed our day at the crossing very much.

Today we walked from the car park to the Red crater and back, not the whole crossing track but quite similar length... What a great landscape and views!
Thanks for hiding this little one. It took a while finding it - but no muggles around at that time (on our way back we saw some people taking a bath there...)
greetings, team bycycle

Our third cache today on 2-days hike Tongariro Northern Circuit. It wasn't so easy. We searched quite long time here.
I'm sorry I log it only now, but I saved it only in my phone and forgot to publish it.
TFTC!

Great day for a nice walk. TFTC

Nice cache

What a beautiful day to do the crossing today!
Found the cache easily as that's where I'd have placed it myself.
Took TB
TFTC

Today we made the Tongariro Alpine Crossing with its amazing lookouts und impressive views. We also took a detour to the Soda Springs and enjoyed this scenic waterfall with a beautiful can to find
Thanks for the cache, sorry for my late log entry and best wishes, kischte.

After one hour of hiking amidst the crowd (Tongariro Crossing may be the most overcrowded hiking trail I've ever seen), it was welcoming to take the small detour to the Soda Springs, where at least a bit fewer people were going. A nice little waterfall, even though unfortunately we were told that the water here is not drinkable.

It took us some time to find the cache, since there are so many rocks here under which it could be hidden. But finally Miss Salamander was successful!

After the break we went on to the much more heavy (but also more beautiful) part of Tongariro Crossing.

Thanks for hiding the cache and best regards from Germany

the Teledahner

In: Geocoin "Trübfischer"

Quick find with gaoliya! Cache is intact and dry. Tftc. Aloha from Hawaii!

Obviously I have to improve my mountain searching skills !

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr........It was still way too FREEZING here......The sun had not found it's way here yer - Sadly...........Perfect time for a quick cache to warm the old brain cells up.

TFTC

So this was a special one. When we go up we are here, but don't know, that a cache is here. At red crater we see this cache. On our way down we go the second time to this cache, but without pencil.. wow... what shoud we do... we make a foto for the log and hope it is ok?
Today was a very special day for us. We make the hiking tour to the red crater. The weather was perfekt and so all was Amazing.
On a road trip north, enjoying the day and pic up some caches. TFTC

Greetings from 2 Austrians  
Die_Asseln

Found when walking the Tongariro Crossing. Lots of muggles around but was finally able to locate the cache. Thanks

With my brother and my friend Lea, I set out to discover New Zealand in a Camper Van for three weeks. It was a wonderful time. We were hiking a lot and enjoyed the diverse nature of New Zealand. It is exciting to drive on the curvy roads. We discovered great waterfalls and beautiful beaches. Bathed in thermal springs and climbed high mountains. It was a very special time. Of course, one or the other box was collected. All the caches I made were in exciting places. My travel companions always came with me and often found the caches rather than me. Thank you for laying and caring.


In our travel planning, this hike was a fixed point. The tour was eagerly awaited. I did not expect to do the tour that well. The weather was good so we had a fantastic view from the volcanoes.

Heute ging es mit Freunden auf den Tangariro Alpine Crossing. Lange hatten wir uns schon darauf gefreut und das Wetter sah aussichtsreich für Sonntag aus. Leider hat sich das Wetter dann aber umentschieden und so standen wir dann ziemlich bald im Nebel und kriegten später dann auch noch Regen ab. Eine ganz schön kühle Angelegenheit. Das hatten wir uns etwas anders vorgestellt. Trotz allem hatten wir aber dennoch einen schönen Tag zusammen.
Nach einem kurzen Abstecher zum Wasserfall auch gleich gefunden...

Tried to do the Tongariro Alpine Crossing but unfortunatly the wind was too strong but because of that could find a few Caches.

TFTC

I was always jealous when my friends Tongariro Crossing posts came up on Facebook so my mind started to wander... until one Saturday, Davidson Clan mentioned it as well! Things moved pretty fast from there - Wednesday I asked if anyone else was keen - Friday we travelled down while booking accommodation and shuttle transfers at the same time. Saturday morning - 5:30am Davidson Clan, ApacheD, BlueSteel and I were on our way.

This was second stop and our first detour - the track thinned out a bit here as many people choose not to adventure this way. The cache was found quickly and in good condition thanks to accurate coords and a straight forward placement. We did need to check a few spots amongst this particular terrain though. Cheers XenaCommander, TFTC

The Tongariro crossing has been on my to do list for a long time and talking to Philip.Perry recently it was also on his list so a plan was put together. Philip.Perry and his son picked myself and my son up and we headed down to National park for the night . We caught the 545am shuttle next morning and arrive up at the start of the Crossing in the dark the weather was slightly overcast but by the time we made it the top of Mt Ngaruhoe the clouds had gone and the sun was out for the rest of the day . We made it to the end of the track with half and hour wait for the last shuttle back to National park. A long and exhausting day but really happy we got all the caches on the crossing and summited Mt Ngaruhoe and Mt Tongariro . 

Tftc

The Tongariro crossing has been on my to do list for a long time and talking to Philip.Perry recently it was also on his list so a plan was put together. Philip.Perry and his son picked myself and my son up and we headed down to National park for the night . We caught the 545am shuttle next morning and arrive up at the start of the Crossing in the dark the weather was slightly overcast but by the time we made it the top of Mt Ngaruhoe the clouds had gone and the sun was out for the rest of the day . We made it to the end of the track with half and hour wait for the last shuttle back to National park. A long and exhausting day but really happy we got all the caches on the crossing and summited Mt Ngaruhoe and Mt Tongariro .
Tftc

1st of the caches in our epic 19km Tongariro hike! This one requires quite some time for a detour (which we should have saved our limited energy... hahah). After jumping rocks upon rocks, we found the cache pretty quickly.
TFTC and hello from Singapore!
#1205

Zusammen mit Firze habe ich mich auf den weiten Weg von Deutschland nach Neuseeland gemacht. Während unseres wunderschönen Urlaubs konnten wir nicht nur die Einzigartigkeit dieses wunderschönen Landes genießen, sondern auch diesen schönen Cache finden und loggen.
Vielen dank an den Owner fürs Legen und Pflegen
Grüße aus OWL / Deutschland

Together with Firze I made the long journey from Germany to New Zealand. During our wonderful holiday, we not only enjoyed the uniqueness of this beautiful country, but also found and logged this beautiful cache.
Many thanks to the owner for laying and maintaining
Greetings from OWL / Germany

Zusammen mit Steffi985 habe ich mich auf den weiten Weg von Deutschland nach Neuseeland gemacht. Während unseres wunderschönen Urlaubs konnten wir nicht nur die Einzigartigkeit dieses wunderschönen Landes genießen, sondern auch diesen schönen Cache finden und loggen.
Vielen dank an den Owner fürs Legen und Pflegen
Grüße aus OWL / Deutschland

Together with Steffi985 I made the long journey from Germany to New Zealand. During our wonderful holiday, we not only enjoyed the uniqueness of this beautiful country, but also found and logged this beautiful cache.
Many thanks to the owner for laying and maintaining
Greetings from OWL / Germany

Thanks for that Cache- Merci pour la Cache - Dzięki za Cache - Grazie per questo Cache - Takk for at Cache - Obrigado por isso Cache - Gracias por el Cache - Díky za keš - Ačiū už tą talpyklą - Paldies par šo Cache - Aitäh selle eest Cache - Спасибо за то кэш - Kiitos, että Cache - Tack för att Cache - Tak for denne Cache - Hvala cache - Ευχαριστώ για τη μνήμη cache - 感謝您的高速緩存 - Önbellek için teşekkürler - Köszönjük, hogy a cache - Bedankt voor de cache - Graças para o cache - Dankon pro la kaŝmemoron

fond this cache while hiking the Tongariro crossing!
Thanks for the Cache!!

The sky was beginning to show dawn when we got here after hiking in the dark from the drop off. A much smaller trail to this spot than the main route. Hint was helpful to avoid going off trail. TFTC

Today we did the TC. At start it was raining but from minute to minute it gets better so that wie hab spectacular view at Mt. Doom. It was really hot and the steep way up was quite exhausting.
Anyway the walk was the best daywalk I did so far.

Found this Cache on the way.

TFTC and best regards
MTKEus

Früh aus den Federn mussten Heckenstürmer und ich heute. Wollten ja unseren Shuttle Bus für die Wanderung "Tongariro Crossing Alpine Walk" nicht verpassen. So konnten wir auch bei sehr frischen Temperaturen unsere Wanderung starten. Wetter war perfekt und nach nicht ganz 7 Stunden waren wir wieder beim Parkplatz.

Greets from Switzerland

Day 19 in Newzealand. Today we made the Tongariro Alpine crossing.
A very beautiful Country with lovely places. We were able to find nice Caches and See Lots of beautiful places.
Thank you for showing us this place.
Tftc

Woohoo - pleased to have found this one today. I had a previous DNF here at the end of 2017, so I brought my muggle hubbie along today and typically, he found it for me! We had a great walk planned to pick up the earthcache on the Red Crater and then the cache on Mt Tongariro but unfortunately the weather didn't play ball today. It began raining near the end of the Devil's Staircase and then along the plateau. As we went up the Red Crater it became really blustery and was very cold. We picked up the necessary information for the Red Crater cache, but will have to leave Mt Tongariro for another time - couldn't see far and it was very cold, windy and wet. Nice to pick this one up on the way back, TFTC

We could find this geocache during our trip around New Zealand. Today we walked the Tongariro Alpine Crossing and we took along some geocaches. The wheatherforcast for today was good so we decided to walk this great walk. There were a lot of people on track today but in the the end we succeeded to log all caches in stealth mode.
Highlight of the day was the one on top op Tongariro. We took the path up starting at Red Crater and ignored the warning sign. We were alone on the mountain and the view and the feeling were great.
We took all but one cache along the path. We were talking too hard and missed it.
Thanks for all earth caches as well, we've learned a lot today.

#16810 9:01

During our holiday in New Zealand we have visited both the North and the South Island. We saw a lot of highlights of this beautiful country, but there is so much more to see. So many highlights, so many caches! The geocaches showed us a lot of special and interesting places. Sometimes a quick find, sometimes we had to search longer. A few DNF's, but that doesn't matter. We loved New Zealand and we hope to come back some day!

Today we have found the cache "Soda Springs Diversion".

XenaCommander, thanks for creating and maintaining this cache!

Greetings from the Netherlands,
de hangijzers

Of course we did this short detour to get to this nice place. Nice place nice cache.
TFTC and greetings from Austria